How to Turn Rooted Verizon Galaxy Note 2 into a World SIM Phone!

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Traveling to another country soon? Perhaps you bought a Verizon Galaxy Note 2 and want to use it in another country?

Did you know that the Verizon Galaxy Note 2 has world bands and supports GSM/HSPA+ to use as a World Phone?

The Verizon Galaxy Note 2 is already a world phone if you swap out the SIM card but Verizon has locked down APN, which means you will be able to get voice but 3G/HSPA+/4G LTE data is blocked.

*Note – UPDATE: works fine for AT&T 3G/HSPA+ data!

Well, if you have a rooted Galaxy Note 2, changing APN is very easy to do with two apps, Titanium Backup PRO and APN Manager PRO app. Both are paid apps but for being able to easily turn your Verizon Galaxy Note 2, it’s totally worth it. (There is also totally free way of doing it by changing the APN files manually but I think this is much easier/practical method.)

Roaming on Verizon internationally can become very expensive, nearly $20 per Megabyte as I found out when I brought my Note 2 to South Korea. Seriously, do they expect people to use roaming internationally? I hope they were joking.

Step 1. Download the two apps, Titanium Backup PRO and APN Manager PRO from the Play Store. For Titanium Backup PRO, you will also need to download the regular Titanium Backup app as the PRO only gives you the key.

Step 2. Open Titanium Backup app then hit the “Backup/Restore” tab.

Step 3. Find “APN Manager PRO” and do a long-press.

Step 4. Choose “Convert to system app”. This will convert the APN Manager PRO into a system app so you can use it to insert/change new APNs.

APN settings allow you to get 3G/4G data, this is something Verizon blocked and why we need to insert the correct APN for the country you are traveling to.

Step 5. Once converted, open APN Manager PRO, it might be changed to “ale.android.apnmanager…”, but don’t worry about the name and open it.

Step 6. Choose “Insert APN”.

Step 7. You will need to insert the APN settings for your carrier. For example, I inserted South Korean SKTelecom APN settings. I found the APN settings by simply googling “SKTelecom APN Settings”. Sometimes, you may have to search a bit more to find all the necessary information, make sure you insert the correct MCC and MNC values.

Step 8. Once inserted, you can press “Swap APN” and choose the new APN and the Verizon APN so you can easily switch between the two APNs.

Step 9. Once you travel to another country, you can swap your SIM card out.

Step 10. Open up APN Manager PRO and simply hit “Swap APN”.

Step 11. If you used the correct APN values for the SIM you are using, you should be getting either 3G, HSPA+, or 4G LTE (if you use 4G LTE SIM).

In my testings in South Korea using SKTelecom SIM, I was able to get perfect 3G, HSDPA, and HSPA+ signals with download speeds between 1 to 10Mbps. Also, voice working flawless.

So next time you travel to another country, you don’t have to buy/rent another phone, just get a prepaid SIM card in that country and use your Verizon Note 2 as world phone with both voice and data working.

Lastly but not least, don’t forget to leave your comments after you use this method to use your Note 2 as a world phone.

Galaxy Note 2 Reference
You will need a rooted Galaxy Note 2 to install all ROM/kernels.NOTE: If you are a noob, please remember the author of this site is not responsible if you mess up your phone. Make sure you know what you are doing before following any instructions on this site!
First time to rooting and custom ROMs? Please see our Galaxy Note 2 Root FAQ FIRST!

40 Responses to How to Turn Rooted Verizon Galaxy Note 2 into a World SIM Phone!

Hey, I’ve Been Seriously Checking Out Your Site.
I Looks Like You Have Great insight & Talent W/ These Things…
I Have a Note 2 Verizon i605 W/ Some Weird Things…
No Sim After Pulling Out my Verizon Sim & Plugging in a Local Foreign
Sim….No it Wont Even Recognize the Verizon Sim. Lol, Figures I Presently Stuck in Moscow..From Las Vegas…
Oh Its A New Factory Phone… Nothing Modified Yet!

If You Could Respond to This Or Email Mail Me,
It Would Be Great…. I May Even Be Willing to Fly To San Fran & Pay You to
Help Me With this POS….

AWESOME GUIDE!!! I just completed this using my Verizon Note II and connected using T-Mobile Duetsch Telekom SIM card in Germany. I’m connecting at fast speeds and had no difficulty following the guide. Using standard firmware with root access. Chose the Global network setting.

Hello,
I am having Verizon Note 2 in India. I want to use it in Airtel GSM 2G+3G+HSPA & the frequency for the provider is GSM-900/1800 (EDGE) HSPA. Will my note 2 work after finishing the procedure u have shown???? Help

this was incredibly helpful. one problem is that I can’t get the mobile hotspot to work, though. it just keeps on saying that it the mobile hotspot can’t connect to my network. any suggestions? I’m using the unlimited 3G/HSPA+ plan from SK Telecom.

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I went there last summer and I couldn’t find anyone to sell one to me. Most carriers (Olleh, KT, SKTelecom, etc) gave me the same answer: we don’t do prepaid here – especially for data. I tried in Yongsan and Incheon Airport. Finally, I ended up renting a 4G hotspot from LG at Incheon to have some sort of data connectivity.

However, given how widely available WiFi is in Seoul, the connection would often be drowned out – especially when the battery got low.

Thanks for the info first. I need your helo ASAP!
Im in S.Korea now and I followed all the steps above.
But when I insult KTF sim card, there’s error message pop up like ” Non verizon simcard: sorry this sim card is not supported.”
I dont know what’s wrong with it.
Plz plz help me! Thx!

Thanks for the info first. I need your helo ASAP!
Im in S.Korea now and I followed all the steps above.
But when I insult KTF sim card, there’s error message pop up like ” Non verizon simcard: sorry this sim card is not supported.” , and when I try to make a call, “Mobile network not available” messae pop up.
I dont know what’s wrong with it.
Plz plz help me! Thx!

I just came back from south kr and wasnt able to do the same as u.
I went to the sk booth at the airport and tested the sim before i rented and it wasnt working.
I rooted my phone i did everything like u did in the video but after putting the sim and selecting apn on apn manager pro, it never connected. No voice no data nothing. I was doing that for almost half hr and the lady at the booth kept telling me verizon phones dont work. I tried to explain it was rooted or unlocked and obv theybdont know what that is….

If you rooted your Verizon note 2 you don’t need to download Apn manager pro and Titanium backup pro both programs cost you money. Easiest way would be just download HiApn from Google Play store which is free then HiApn would automatically set-up for you your local wireless carrier apn but make sure Microsim is inserted.That’s all yo need.HiApn would delete old Apn and replace with your New Microsim wireless carrier apn… You would get Tmobile and AT&T HSPN+ DATA …. About nagging Non-verizon sim Massage just download free Titanium backup pro from http://www.4shared.com then freeze samsung signature app… through Titanium back up pro…Enjoy

This worked great and I was able to get China Unicom data… unfortunately, I returned to USA and now I can NOT get Verizon service… I tried to swap China APN for Verizon APN, but only China Unicom APN now shows. any suggestions?

Still no Verizon service after turning my Note 2 into “World SIM phone”… Note: it does work fine when using China Unicom SIM, but now how to I use Verizon CDMA service again? Or once I turn it into a World SIM phone, I can no longer use Verizon? Do I have to return phone to stock to get Verizon service? I would REALLY appreciate some help/advice.

I successfully rooted using CASUAL No You Verizon and was able to change my vpn to get 3g in South Korea on SK telecom following your guide. However i want to unroot my phone so I can use some Korean banking apps. If I unroot and flash to stock will I lose my korean vpn settings? (I think so?) But if i just do a SuperUser unroot will that let me keep my customized vpn settings AND access my banking apps?

I have installed Titanium Backup Pro, when I run it there is an error
“Sorry, I could not acquire root privileges, tihs application will * not * work! Please verify that your ROM is rooted, and try again.”
I must do what I can in order to root the device, so that I can use in Indonesia